Reviews

Last Seen Leaving by Kelly Braffet

katiebtatton's review against another edition

3.0

Huh. I read this book on a recommendation from Elizabeth, and I'm not sure what I think of it. Last Seen Leaving is the story of an estranged mother and her daughter who has come up missing. The mother treks across the country to do her own investigation while the daughter drifts away from her former lives once again. The reader is aware the entire time that the daughter is alive, but the mother is not. Enter George, who either is genuinely philanthropic towards the deadended Miranda or really creepy. Could he be the killer plauging the beach? The writing was well done---the narrative is in the past tense while the flashbacks are present tense and is an interesting and easy way for the reader to distinguish the two. The heartbreak of Anne (the mother) is palpable, and the lines of two lives lived separately are drawn back to the disappearance of Anne's husband and Miranda's father Nick.

I don't know how I feel about the book. It postulates that all the heartbreak and estrangement stemmed from Anne's reaction to the news of Nick's death. Perhaps my life would be completely different had my mother reacted to the death of my father in the same way, but I refuse to believe that any one event has that much power over our lives.

sandin954's review against another edition

2.0

This was just OK for me and not nearly as good as her first book [b:Josie and Jack|206796|Josie and Jack|Kelly Braffet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439269772s/206796.jpg|200146]. While the characters could have been interesting the structure of the book bothered me and I found the writing a bit stilted.

zdkb24's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

jgmencarini's review against another edition

4.0

Great character development, but not enough of the plot threads were wrapped up at the end (which I guess is kind of like life, so perhaps this is a metaphysical comment on our state of being). All in all, I liked it.

mokey81's review against another edition

1.0

I didn't like this much as her other book. I read this one first and I'm surprised I bothered with the other. There was so much cussing in this book. And it just felt totally disjointed and pointless. Didn't like.

girrlfriday's review against another edition

4.0

I like this book for the reasons that other people don't like it: because the main character doesn't give a damn about anything but herself, because it's ambiguous and the ending isn't tied up with a pretty bow. Life is messy and sometimes unresolved.

hyzenthlay76's review against another edition

3.0

By the author of 'Josie and Jack' and just as engrossing.

fictionofthefix's review against another edition

3.0

Now she was older and she no longer looked for magic.

i don't even know what to make of this, i feel like a little kid trying to process it all. it's certainly not an optimistic book and i'm not sure what the message is supposed to be. but it has to be said, the writing is seriously SPECTACULAR, it left me breathless... but the material was a little too strong, i don't know, i think i should have waited till i was older.

some similarities i found in Kelly's other books, because i'm bored:

[bc:Last Seen Leaving|1424853|Last Seen Leaving|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347578011s/1424853.jpg|1415298]: "Some people, she thought, lived their whole lives and never did anything that mattered."
[bc:Fabulous Things|606780|Fabulous Things|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347573945s/606780.jpg|200146]: "I thought, there are people who live their entire lives and never know this kind of love."


[bc:Last Seen Leaving|1424853|Last Seen Leaving|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347578011s/1424853.jpg|1415298]: "She never complains. She should complain. She deserves to complain. You leave me here! she wants to shriek. You leave me!"
[bc:Fabulous Things|606780|Fabulous Things|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347573945s/606780.jpg|200146]: "You think I wanted to leave you here alone?” “You must have,” I said, “because you did. You left me here.” I said it again: “You left me here.”


[bc:Last Seen Leaving|1424853|Last Seen Leaving|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347578011s/1424853.jpg|1415298]: "He was the only one who loved her, and now he was gone."
[bc:Save Yourself|16142105|Save Yourself|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1369819841s/16142105.jpg|21974146]: "Patrick thought of Layla. Her words: Justinian hurts me but he's the only one who loves me."


[bc:Last Seen Leaving|1424853|Last Seen Leaving|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347578011s/1424853.jpg|1415298]: "The scene she plays will always be the same: over and over again, she will save him."
[bc:Save Yourself|16142105|Save Yourself|Kelly Braffet|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1369819841s/16142105.jpg|21974146]: "Maybe she'll even be good for him. Like you were for me. You saved me, you know."

and many more. there's a group of 4 misfits teenagers in both Save Yourself and Last Seen Leaving.
and i can't wait for Braffet's next book. because i know that even though i may not be in love with the subject matter, i'm in love with her way with words. it's like nothing i've ever read before.